Welcome to another year of Warriors Weekly! Every Tuesday, I will do my best to reflect on the past week, look ahead and shed some light on the important issues surrounding the team I have covered most of the last five years.
The Summer That Was:
Despite the absence of a draft pick or much salary cap flexibility, Bob Myers and company certainly made it a compelling summer.
It all started out with the firing of Mark Jackson and quick replacement with Steve Kerr. While Coach Jackson did an excellent job motivating the team and producing a strong defensive squad, he represented the ceiling for this team with an inferior offense and 
indefensible rotations. While a brand new coach always brings uncertainty, talking to Kerr and seeing his vision in motion during the pre-season has given me hope that this will be a better regime in terms of the product on the court.
The biggest move in terms of personnel was one that ended up not being made. The front office decided to never budge on including Klay Thompson in a trade for Kevin Love so the big man ended up with LeBron in Cleveland. Klay did his best to justify that faith by playing well in Team USA’s gold medal run in FIBA 2014 alongside Stephen Curry.
Finally, the front office added quality depth in the backcourt with Shaun Livingston, Leandro Barbosa and the returning Brandon Rush. The lack of a reliable primary ballhandler other than Stephen Curry played a major factor in Golden State’s horrendous offense when he left the floor. Livingston’s primary job should be to fill that role but he can also play with Curry with a similar defensive role to Klay Thompson but with a greater ability to allow Steph to play off the ball offensively, something he can do very well. I expect both Barbosa and Rush to contribute early and often when healthy and Barbosa may have the best sense of where this offense will go having played under Kerr and head assistant Alvin Gentry in Phoenix.
The Soapbox: Clarifying Klay’s Extension Situation
We have seen a little news on the possibility of Klay Thompson signing an extension and I wanted to use this space before the deadline to walk everyone through the situation.
Reports out there indicate Klay and his camp are looking for a max deal, which they are free to pursue. Chandler Parsons and Gordon Hayward cashing out this summer provide a strong foundation for his argument. One important thing to note is that under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, this extension window has different rules that affect the options available to the Warriors and Klay. As an extension, the only way Klay can get five years on top of his remaining season is if he gets the Designated Player extension which must be for his maximum. If the Warriors want to give him less than his max, the contract cannot run past the 2018-19 season. If Klay hits restricted free agency next summer, that limitation comes off and he can sign a five year contract as 
a Full Bird free agent for any amount like Eric Bledsoe did with the Suns a few weeks back.
I should also note that Klay’s first year maximum salary is exactly the same whether he gets it now or after this season. Since the league does not know where the salary cap will be until after the July Moratorium, max contract extensions do not specify an amount at this point. As such, the Warriors would not be mitigating any risk by locking in a max deal now if the cap goes up more than expected next summer.
With all these factors, it makes sense that the two sides cannot come to a deal right now unless Klay moves off his max demand. I firmly believe that max extensions off rookie contracts should only go to the absolute best of players because teams carry so little risk by waiting thanks to the restricted free agency process. The only potential downsides are Klay signing a shorter deal as a Restricted Free Agent (like Gordon Hayward did by having a three year max contract with a player option) and the monumentally low chance Klay plays next season on his cheap qualifying offer and then hits Unrestricted Free Agency in 2016 when he could leave without compensation or matching. The dramatically expanding cap makes having a fifth season at current max levels a different commitment than it would have been two years ago but it would still be a ton of money for a talented player who still needs to show he is indispensable to the team.
The Week to Come:
The Warriors start out the 2014-15 campaign with the two weakest California teams: at Sacramento and the home opener against the Lakers. From there, the Dubs head up to Portland to play the tail end of a back-to-back against Damian Lillard and the Blazers.
A 2-1 week would be a success considering the amped up nature of the first week of the season.